Solar and wind energy potential and utilization in Pakistan

Pakistan needs substantial amount of energy to develop its industry and to increase the agricultural productivity. The available indigenous energy resources are limited. The only option which the country has to pursue is renewable energy. This paper identifies the potentials of solar and wind energy. The prime sites for wind are coastal area, arid zone and hill terrains. Solar energy is abundant over most part of the country, maximum being received over Quetta valley.     

Renewable energy resource potential in Pakistan

Pakistan energy situation is seriously troubling today due to lack of careful planning and implementation of its energy policies. To avoid the worse situation in the years ahead, the country will have to exploit its huge natural renewable resource. In this paper a review is being presented about renewable energy resource potential available in the country to be exploited for useful and consistent energy supplies. On average solar global insolation 5–7 kWh/m²/day, wind speed 5–7.5 m/s, Biogas 14 million m³/day, microhydel more than 600 MW (for small units) with persistency factor of more than 80% over a year exist in the country. Solar and wind maps are presented along with identification of hot spring sites as resource of geothermal energy. The research results presented in this paper are not only useful for government policy makers, executing agencies but also for private sector national and international agencies and stake holders who want to invest in Pakistan for renewable energy projects or business.     

California offshore wind energy potential

This study combines multi-year mesoscale modeling results, validated using offshore buoys with high-resolution bathymetry to create a wind energy resource assessment for offshore California (CA). The siting of an offshore wind farm is limited by water depth, with shallow water being generally preferable economically. Acceptable depths for offshore wind farms are divided into three categories: ≤20 m depth for monopile turbine foundations, ≤50 m depth for multi-leg turbine foundations, and ≤200 m depth for deep water floating turbines. The CA coast was further divided into three logical areas for analysis: Northern, Central, and Southern CA. A mesoscale meteorological model was then used at high horizontal resolution (5 and 1.67 km) to calculate annual 80 m wind speeds (turbine hub height) for each area, based on the average of the seasonal months January, April, July, and October of 2005/2006 and the entirety of 2007 (12 months). A 5 MW offshore wind turbine was used to create a preliminary resource assessment for offshore CA. Each geographical region was then characterized by its coastal transmission access, water depth, wind turbine development potential, and average 80 m wind speed. Initial estimates show that 1.4–2.3 GW, 4.4–8.3 GW, and 52.8–64.9 GW of deliverable power could be harnessed from offshore CA using monopile, multi-leg, and floating turbine foundations, respectively. A single proposed wind farm near Cape Mendocino could deliver an average 800 MW of gross renewable power and reduce CA's current carbon emitting electricity generation 4% on an energy basis. Unlike most of California's land based wind farms which peak at night, the offshore winds near Cape Mendocino are consistently fast throughout the day and night during all four seasons.     

Investigation of wind characteristics and wind energy potential in Kirklareli, Turkey

Utilization of wind energy as an energy source has been growing rapidly in the whole world due to environmental pollution, consumption of the limited fossil fuels and global warming. Although Turkey has fairly high wind energy potential, exploitation of the wind energy is still in the crawling level. In the current study, wind characteristics and wind energy potential of Kırklareli province in the Marmara Region, Turkey were analyzed taking into account the wind data measured as hourly time series. The wind data used in the study were taken from Electrical Power Resources Survey and Development Administration (EIEI) for the year 2004. The measured wind data were processed as annual, seasonal and monthly. Weibull and Rayleigh probability density functions of the location are calculated in the light of observed data and Weibull shape parameter k and scale parameter c are found as 1.75 and 5.25 m/s for the year 2004. According to the power calculations done for the site, annual mean power density based on Weibull function is 138.85 W/m². The results indicate that investigated site has fairly wind energy potential for the utilization.     

The wind energy potential of Malaysia

Routine observations have been used to determine the diurnal and seasonal variations of the wind at 20 meteorological stations in Malaysia. The wind speed distributions, with calms omitted, are represented by Weibull functions. Seasonal mean wind power densities at the surface exceed 20 W m⁻² only at stations on the east coast and in the south of West Malaysia during the northeast monsoon from November to March. Estimates of seasonal power densities at 600 m above the surface range from below 100 W m⁻² to over 300 W m⁻², with the highest values over the south of West Malaysia and the east coasts of East and West Malaysia during the northeast monsoon.     

The wind energy potential of Thailand

Routine wind data from meteorological stations have been used to determine seasonal wind speed distributions and mean power densities at the surface over Thailand. Analyses of hourly wind speeds at two stations show that Weibull distributions fit the data well, provided that observations of calm are excluded. The diurnal variation of the wind at these stations has also been found. Estimates of mean power densities of surface winds over the whole country are typically in the range 10–20 Wm^?2. Upper level climatic charts indicate that mean free-stream wind power densities above the surface boundary layer are typically in the range 100–600 Wm^?2. Similar power densities would be accessible to wind machines on high ground in many places, depending on mountain topography and machine siting.     

The wind energy potential of Malaysia

Wind data collected at ten stations in Malaysia were analysed for wind energy potential. The data were collected over a ten-year period (1982–1991). The results were presented as a Weibull distribution and analysis indicated that the station at Mersing has the greatest potential, with a mean power density of 85.61 W/m² at 10 m above sea level.     

A practical and economic method for estimating wind characteristics at potential wind energy conversion sites

In order to assess the economic viability of installing a wind energy conversion system (WECS) at a site; it is necessary to know the wind characteristics at that site. Since it is usually impractical to measure wind at all potential sites over a suitably long period of time, it is necessary to develop a methodology that can provide accurate estimates of wind economically at potential WECS sites from data that are already available.A physically based, three-dimensional model has been developed that incorporates the effect of underlying terrain and uses available, conventional wind information from selected nearby weather stations. This model—called COMPLEX—is essentially an objective analysis computer program that interpolates values of wind from observations at irregularly spaced stations.The required statistical wind characteristics are estimated from the synthesized hourly winds, which are obtained by using the COMPLEX model; the model is used in conjunction with a method for reducing the number of variables while still retaining most of the information of the original data set. This involves eigenvectors of the covariance matrix of the original data set.The linear characteristics of the COMPLEX model have been used to obtain solutions directly for only the few eigenvectors of the input for any arbitrary set of observations from linear combinations of those solutions. We describe here an example of the application of the method to a potential wind energy conversion site at Boone, North Carolina.     

Uncertainty analysis of wind energy potential assessment

This study presents a framework to assess the wind resource of a wind turbine using uncertainty analysis. Firstly, probability models are proposed for the natural variability of wind resources that include air density, mean wind velocity and associated Weibull parameters, surface roughness exponent, and error for prediction of long-term wind velocity based on the Measure–Correlate–Predict method. An empirical probability model for a power performance curve is also demonstrated. Secondly, a Monte-Carlo based numerical simulation procedure which utilizes the probability models is presented. From the numerical simulation, it is found that the present method can effectively evaluate the expected annual energy production for different averaging periods and confidence intervals. The uncertainty, which is 11% corresponding to the normalized average energy production in the present example, can be calculated by specifically considering the characteristics of the individual sources in terms of probability parameters.     

The wind energy potential of western greece

In this study wind data have been used to determine the monthly and annual variations of the wind at 13 meterological stations in west Greece. An analysis of the available wind data for the Ionian Sea islands and the western coasts of Greece is carried out to ascertain its potential for wind energy development. The effect of the limited number of daily observations available on the accuracy of the mean wind speed and annual wind energy estimates is ascertained. The wind speed and direction distributions are represented with Weibull functions. Besides, a mass-consistent numerical mesoscale model has been used to give an overview of the wind prospecting and sitting problem, and an example of its use for Corfu (Kerkira), an island in the Ionian Sea, is given. The comparison of the accuracy of the stimulation results versus measured wind at an available site is quite encouraging even though it cannot be conclusive since only one station is available.     

Assessment of wind energy potential in croatia

In this work, the eolian potential of Croatia (one of the Yugoslav republics) is investigated on the basis of 32 anemograph stations. Mean hourly values were used for calculation of Weibull's distribution parameter c and k, and mean annual and seasonal wind power densities. The vertical extrapolation of wind speeds was based on Justus expression. Mean annual wind energies were calculated for two types of aerogenerators. Analysis of these data showed that in the interior of Croatia, at 10 m above ground, low naturally available wind power densities exist: less than 50 W/m². On the Adriatic basin, in some area along the coast, a wind power of over 300 W/m² may be gained.

The annual natural wind energies at 50 m above ground lie in the continental part between 250 and 1300 kWh/m² and on the eastern part of Adriatic basin between 500 and 8100 kWh/m².     

Evaluation of wind energy potential and electricity generation at six locations in Turkey

In this study, wind characteristics were analyzed using the wind speed data collected of the six meteorological stations in Turkey during the period 2000–2006. The annual mean wind speed of the six stations (Erzurum, Elaz??, Bingöl, Kars, Manisa and Ni?de) is obtained as 8.7, 8.5, 5.9, 6.9, 7.4 and 8.0 m/s at 10 m height, respectively. The mean annual value of Weibull shape parameter k is between 1.71 and 1.96 while the annual value of scale parameter c is between 6.81 and 9.71 m/s. A technical assessment has been made of electricity generation from four wind turbines having capacity of (600 kW, 1000 kW, 1500 kW and 2000 kW). The yearly energy output and capacity factor for the four different turbines were calculated.     

Wind energy and assessment of wind energy potential in Turkey

In this study, the potential of wind energy and assessment of wind energy systems in Turkey were studied. The main purpose of this study is to investigate the wind energy potential and future wind conversion systems project in Turkey. The wind energy potential of various regions was investigated; and the exploitation of the wind energy in Turkey was discussed. Various regions were analyzed taking into account the wind data measured as hourly time series in the windy locations. The wind data used in this study were taken from Electrical Power Resources Survey and Development Administration (EIEI) for the year 2010. This paper reviews the assessment of wind energy in Turkey as of the end of May 2010 including wind energy applications. Turkey's total theoretically available potential for wind power is around 131,756.40 MW and sea wind power 17,393.20 MW annually, according to TUREB (TWEA). When Turkey has 1.5 MW nominal installed wind energy capacity in 1998, then this capacity has increased to 1522.20 MW in 2010. Wind power plant with a total capacity of 1522.20 MW will be commissioned 2166.65 MW in December 2011.     

Investigation of wind energy potential of Muradiye in Manisa,Turkey

The purpose of this survey is about to investigate wind energy potential of Celal Bayar University Muradiye Campus. The experimental system was commissioned in November 2006 and performance monitoring tests have been conducted since then. Author also undertake a case study to investigate how varying wind speeds considered affect the electricity production of the wind turbine system and to estimate a capacity factor which is defined as the ratio of the average power output to the rated output power of the generator. The collected data are quantified and illustrated in the tables, 07th of November 2006 till 09st of December 2007 for comparison purposes. According to experimental studies between 2006 and 2007 years, yearly average wind velocity is found to be 3.21 m/s at 30 m height and capacity factor is estimated to be 14.1% for Enercon E48 (800 kW) wind turbine. According to these results, the mean wind speed does not provide economical electricity production from the wind energy.     

Investigation of wind characteristics and assessment of wind energy potential for Waterloo region,Canada

Wind energy becomes more and more attractive as one of the clean renewable energy resources. Knowledge of the wind characteristics is of great importance in the exploitation of wind energy resources for a site. It is essential in designing or selecting a wind energy conversion system for any application. This study examines the wind characteristics for the Waterloo region in Canada based on a data source measured at an elevation 10 m above the ground level over a 5-year period (1999–2003) with the emphasis on the suitability for wind energy technology applications. Characteristics such as annual, seasonal, monthly and diurnal wind speed variations and wind direction variations are examined. Wind speed data reveal that the windy months in Waterloo are from November to April, defined as the Cold Season in this study, with February being the windiest month. It is helpful that the high heating demand in the Cold Season coincides with the windy season. Analysis shows that the day time is the windy time, with 2 p.m. in the afternoon being the windiest moment. Moreover, a model derived from the maximum entropy principle (MEP) is applied to determine the diurnal, monthly, seasonal and yearly wind speed frequency distributions, and the corresponding Lagrangian parameters are determined. Based on these wind speed distributions, this study quantifies the available wind energy potential to provide practical information for the application of wind energy in this area. The yearly average wind power density is 105 W/m². The day and night time wind power density in the Cold Season is 180 and 111 W/m², respectively.     

Simulation of wind energy output at Guajira, Colombia

A methodology is developed to estimate the chord distribution airfoil and blade twist along the radius of the blade by using axial and angular moment conservation equations, blade element theory and optimization processes. This methodology takes into account the concept related with getting wind power for different chord blade values and selecting one that facilitates to get the maximum value for wind power. Simulation of power generation output was carried out by using a wind-speed probability distribution function (PDF) obtained from data collected at the Guajira region of Colombia.     

The potential for wind energy in Britain

This paper discusses the prospects for the large-scale use of wind power for electricity supply in Britain. Recent economic advances in wind energy are outlined, and it is shown that on windy sites, currently-available machines are among the cheapest generating options. The results from detailed studies of wind energy resources, and of the long-term integration of wind power on the UK supply system, are then summarized. These studies are applied together in probabilistic projections of wind energy and power system costs. Results suggest that, siting permitting, the economic long-term contribution of wind energy in Britain is likely to lie in the range of 20–50% of system demand. The most critical questions for wind development now relate to institutional issues and the desirability of the source on such scales.     

Investigation of wind power potential at Bozcaada, Turkey

Thirteen years of wind data from Bozcaada Meteo-station have been used to evaluate the potential of wind power on Bozcaada Island, in the North-eastern part of the Aegean Sea. Investigations show that Bozcaada has a considerable wind potential (average wind speed M = 6.4 ms⁻¹ and a mean energy density E = 324 W/m⁻² at the location of the meteo-station, at 10 m above ground level which could cover its yearly electricity demand by utilizing only one 250 kW wind turbine. The wind atlas analysis and application program, WAsP, has been used to evaluate the wind atlas statistics and energy densities of Bozcaada. The yearly power production of the 250 kW wind turbine, assumed to be installed has been calculated. Then an environmental and techno-economic analysis of wind power has been carried out.     

A statistical analysis of wind energy potential at the eastern region of Saudi Arabia

The energy potential of wind for the eastern region of Saudi Arabia is investigated based on measurements of a complete year data at a coastal location in eastern Saudi Arabia. A suitable Weibull distribution is generated and a comparison of this model is made with the Rayleigh distribution of wind power densities. Two horizontal‐axis type of wind energy conversion systems which operate at fixed rpm are considered for the determination of the extractable wind power, and a model of quadratic power output function is used between the cut‐in speed and rated speed. It is shown that small‐scale wind energy systems are suitable in the eastern part of Saudi Arabia for power generation and irrigation purposes. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.